Ascent Notes for: S.W. Face; Harding Route - 5.10c Average Rating : 4.20/5

i have not climbed that high before
12000 ft. is no joke
long walk in for me
would suggest being used to altitude

the approach was easy to find, but very long

p.1 was mine run out and loose at the top when u need to go right p.2 was run out at the top traverse because of no gear left on the rack that would fit. and i hung on the rope while cleaning the gear, so it is a hand dog! p.3 & 4 i linked but on the chimney made a mistake and went to long and deep and climbed out the end. go short and then get out so the gut that is larger can make it through.

i was to long on the approach and had made some mistakes early on, the time was late in the day and we called it at the
belay of p. nr. 5

a 60 m 4 raps to the ground will do the trick

left 30 $ worth of gear and were safe

the walk out was long for me being i was mild heat stroked and
had a headache

the water is clean to drink u[ there on the way before and after you see the face of mountain

i would love to go there again
with more time up high
and leaving at 500 am in the morning

would not call this a hang dog
but a spanking
i did good on the climbing but bad on the
planning and, etc

this is a serious undertaking
which needs respect
some of the others doing this route are
great climbers used to such things
this was my first alpine experience in the high sierras

blessings

Hauled Ben up this one. Classic Harding offwidth grunt pitch. Offwidth kind of runout if you don't have those big, heavy cams (I sure didn't).

Approach was pretty easy to find. I thought the route was not really that good for a High Sierra route. It was worth doing but a little chossy, hard to get good gear in sections and no strikeingly aesthetic pitches. On the other hand it climbs a beautifull rock face, has wild exposure and a great top out. Both the wild step left on pitch two and the .10 move protected by an old bolt on pitch five have potential for bad falls. I wouldnt recomend the route to anyone not confident running it out a bit on 5.10 ground. I felt the route was pretty strait forward and easy to follow. Definately not a grade V, more like grade III. We bumped it off the list in 5 hours. A pretty serious route with potential for big falls and bad landings.

We had the route all to ourselves. Big exposure, and the chimney will make you hurt. A truly fantastic route.

This route seemed fairly straightforward and very enjoyable. I would say it's a bit soft for a grade V. The Harding Route on Keeler, for example, is much more of an undertaking.

No comment

Before doing this route, we knew no one who had done it. Now we each know one person. Took about 10 hours to climb it. A bit harder to get sound pro than Keeler.

Crux for us was the snowfield at 8am without ice axes. Amazing setting, long route. OW was not that bad even with the ancient bolts. Swung leads.